So I need a valve job on my fe 352. Should I send em out to a machine shop or should I just find some new ones? If I replace em, what is a good company? I'm not looking for super high performance nor do I care about weight. I just want it to be a good daily driver more than anything. Also, is there an additive that I can run in the oil to kind of clean em out for a temp. fix kinda thing. Thanks guys.
You probably would be better off to find some heads from a 70,s FE that are already have the hard valves and seats for unleaded gas. 360 truck heads will work OK. OldWolf
There used to be a product called "Engine Rebuild in a Can". It was poured into the oil, had to work, right? Haven't seen it in a while in the parts store, it must be hard to keep in stock. Otherwise, send your heads out to a local machine shop or get a set of exchange heads if you're not fussy about having your original heads back. Bob
If you are looking for a more high performance head, Edelbrock makes a really good set of FE heads. Dove and Blue Thunder also make high performance FE heads. If you are going to keep the motor mostly stock, just send the heads out for a valve job. Any quality machine shop will be able to put in hardened seats and new valves. Do NOT replace your '63 heads with mid 70's truck (360 or 390) heads. Those motors were very low compression, and the heads you have will flow much better than the later truck heads.
The FE 360 truck engines have lower compression due to the pistons lowerdeck height and dished pistons. The truck heads have the same size CC combustion chambers ports and valves as the 352. The 63 352 had flat top pistons without valve reliefs. They commonly used thin steel head gaskets.. In the post he wasnt really wanting to increse performance . I think he was asking for the easiest cheapest way to keep the old ford going. He should be able to get a good used set of the later heads much cheaper then buying and paying a machine shop to convert his original heads to work with unleaded fuel. OldWolf
Had my 352 heads (1965) re/re with new seats and new valves. Local machine shop did them no problem. Thats the way I would go, then you know they are sound an reliable.
It would probably cost you a little more, but running the Edelbrock aluminum heads will give you a head that runs a little cooler and is more tolerant of todays pump gas. Once you add up the new valves, hardened seat, springs, machine work and whatever else they need, it is going to be a little costly and take considerably longer that just ordering a set of Edelbrocks. Good luck with the project whatever way you go
Hot damn, $6.00? I'm there! Thanks for the info guys, I'll let you know which way I go. I'm gonna call around to a few local machine shops and see what they say. Can't really afford the fancy Edelbrocks right now. Rolling cheap these day ya know.
On a more serious note. Take the heads to a Really Good Machine Shop !! Do the hard seats on the exhaust and be real careful with the installed height of the valves if you have the non adjustable shaft rockers. And have them mill the exhaust flanges flat too, you'll be glad you did.Don't swap off your castings as some of the early 352s have really good runner designs >>>>.
Have the machine shop drill out and re-tap the holes where the upper exhaust manifold bolts break off. Don't worry about it because it is a common thing when you take a FE Ford apart. If the heads are original, they are better than the later truck heads even though they do need hardened seats put in them.
An old family friend raced dirt track with Fords from the late 40's well into the 70's with Flatheads, Y-Blocks and FE's. For the FE's he ran 390's because they were plentiful and cheap, with emphasis on "cheap", but he always hunted down heads from 352 4-V's to use as they flowed better. He'd even pay money for them! As far as the hardened seats go I know a lot of guys with older engines that have been running unleaded for years with no ill effects. If you have any doubts just dump a bottle of "Instead O Lead" in every so often. I ran my '62 283 for 10 years on unleaded with only an occasional bottle of additive. It wasn't a DD but I did rackup some miles in that time. There is a school of thought that unless you're putting the engine under heavy and constant load like towing a trailer through hilly terrain frequently or have the engine in a dump truck or something it will be decades before you see any appreciable seat degradation and that's in daily use.
Please consider flushing her out with a quart of good old Marvel Mystery Oil, snake-oil sounding name that it has. Pour 1/2 of a big bottle of it in say a 100 miles before an oil change and then don't lug her driving her b/c the oil will be THIN. Then pour what's left in your gas tank at the same time! Drain your oil after a long drive or DD whatever and then R&R your engine/heads and go. IMHO, good old MMO is a VERY good top-oil that cleans in the oil, the topend guides and such and rings and in the tank, the combustion chamber and back's of the valves. Now if you are really tight on coin, some diesel in the oil and a cup of water drizzled down it's carb at a fast idle while hot will do too! Just don't flood her with the water OR you can hydro-lock her, NOT GOOD! Old-school as all get-out, but it works! pdq67
Thanks guys. Added some mystery oil today so I'll see how that does for a bit. The car is a damn good runner for every day, I put 70 miles a day on her and no problems. But that ticking and the oil use can't be good, so I wanna nip it in the bud now before somethin serious happens. I just don't want to be without it for to long, fun as hell to drive!
Be careful about where you take your heads to. To many horror stories from shoddy machine shops. If it were mine, and I had no intention of getting rid of it...I would take the heads in and have them machined. Get the whole deal done too, because a nickel here and a dime there add up to more trouble free miles down the road. FE heads have VERY few differences from then to the late 70's as far as runners, valve size, and chamber size, so swapping out for a later set of castings is not a horrid idea...but why spend the coin on an unknown when you can spend a little more and get another 30 trouble free years from your original heads? Who is to say that the castings you buy wouldnt need work done?
I hear ya, I'm searching for a place to redo my heads now. Anyone know a good place in Atlanta or surrounding areas?
Plain, I am a little confused, if is a damn good runner with just a little tick, what makes you think you have valve problems? Have you ran a compression check? If it is burning oil and the valves are iffy, and you do a head job, then it will really start burning oil. If it really is in need of a valve job, it probably would be wise to do the bottom end also.
Good point Commish...Since you will be in there it makes more sense to at least freshen up the bottom half with some new bearings and an oil pump. You could basically strip the whole block down, clean it, paint it, and go from the bottom up. You would probably only be looking at another 50-60 bucks unless something is wrong...and wouldnt you rather find something wrong when you are looking at it rather than down the road? Not trying to say rebuild your engine over a tick and some burnt oil...but if you are getting your heads worked over it may be worth the extra time to go all the way.
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